A Sense Of Humor Defensive Driving

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 / Published in Driving Safety

From Bad to Worse: New Study Shows Texting While Driving Even MORE Dangerous Than We Thought

Today, the latest info on cell phone-related distracting driving isn’t so much disappointing and outrageous as it is terrifying: according to researchers at Texas A&M University’s Transportation Institute, texting while driving is even more dangerous than previously thought.

 

Specifically – texting while driving is so distracting that it can double drivers’ reaction times.

 

For the study, researchers recorded how long it took 42  drivers on an 11-mile test track to stop once they saw a flashing yellow light. For drivers who were not distracted by texting, the average stopping time was 1-2 seconds. For drivers who were texting while driving, “the reaction time extended to three to four seconds,” reports Jim Forsyth for Reuters.

 

A difference of one or two seconds might not seem like a big deal, but once you factor in highway speeds, that extra time can equal big trouble. Kurt Urnst crunched the numbers at The Car Connection: “Still not convinced? Ponder this: a two second delay in reaction time, at fifty miles per hour, translates into an increase of roughly 148 feet in stopping distance. ”

 

148 extra feet before the test drivers distracted by texting were able to bring their vehicles to a stop. That’s roughly equivalent to needing an entire American football field to come to a stop, instead of just your team’s half.

 

Here are three other important facts to come out of the study:

 

  1. It doesn’t matter whether you read a message you’ve received or write one of your own: “The act of reading and writing a text message are equally impairing and equally dangerous,” said lead researcher Christine Yager.
  2. Texting drivers are more likely to swerve in their lanes.
  3. The study findings include other related distractions, such as checking email or browsing Facebook.

 

So what have we learned this week? Texting while driving is horrifyingly dangerous – by science and by public opinion – but lots of people still do it!
Awesome! Looks like my next vehicle better be an armored tank…

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